Ascend
by Sythe
Summary: The Queen of Blades isn't someone a five years old child can easily forget, selective amnesia or not. As Naruto grows up, it becomes harder and harder to make out where she ends and he begins. The gift she leaves in his body doesn't exactly escape the notice of the ninja world either. Mild Starcraft 1 & 2 crossover. Infested Naruto.


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto and Starcraft.

Betas: Michelle T, Kevin C

**Prologue: ****Point of Divergence**

_-Ascend (verb): to proceed from an inferior to a superior level, to go toward the source or beginning.-_

* * *

_Among scientific circle of Konohagakure, the origin of __**Subject N**__ is a topic up for debate. Despite countless tests performed on the subject from childhood to pre-puberty and constant surveillance once the subject was released to public, the true answer eludes us. While there is no question of the sheer power and scope of __**Subject N**__'s first generation bloodline limit, its origin is still a mystery. _

_There is one thing we know of it, however. The development of this new bloodline limit, this bloodline devourer for a lack of better words, started from __**Subject N**__'s first disappearance._

_The disappearance or perhaps, possible kidnapping and experimenting, of __**Subject N**__, known at the time as Naruto Uzumaki__, took place at the night of the boy's fifth birthday, October 10th. This disappearance was not noticed by his caretakers and the village authority until the next twenty-four hours. Despite the nationwide manhunt right after, he was discovered one week after the incident, from this point forward referred to as Point Zero, on the outskirt of the village and unconscious. _

_By then, the boy had already changed. _

_First level interrogation revealed that the boy had little to no memory of what transpired during his one week disappearance except that he was held prisoner in a very "small, wet, and tight place__" and while he had no recollection who his keepers were, deep hypnosis interrogation revealed the words "swarm__" and "queen" amidst his nightmare screaming. _

- Document N001 - Subject: N - Task force Cultivate, sub-branch of Root - Director: Danzo Shimura -

* * *

_Big things have small beginning._

This was what the Zerg creature called Izsha thought as she held the cocoon in her many tentacles. It squirmed in her hold, the creature inside it struggling, fighting. The fleshy cocoon wall bulged in the shapes of small and inefficient Terran grapplers. The Terran youngling inside flailed.

It feared. Izsha could tell. It reeked of terror and confusion.

"Izsha..." The voice came from down below where she hung from the inside of the Leviathan. Not really a voice, not in the way the Terrans or Protoss would call it, but a thought, a will given voice. No words, but a single message delivered. The Swarm was of one mind and the owner of that mind spoke in a language that transcended all others. "...why is there a Terran in my Leviathan?" There was a pause as Izsha lowered herself and her queen took in the Terran creature in full.

"Why is there an uninfested psionic Terran child in my Leviathan?" Came the question, again, heavier, deliberate. The intention behind the question weighted upon Izsha's mind.

Izsha made a show of presenting the Terran creature to her queen. "Abathur's request, my queen, for his experiments."

"He requested a psionic Terran child for experimenting?" said the queen of the Zerg, her skepticism lacing her every words. It went unsaid between them that the Queen of Blades provided her essence architect with no lack of Terran biomatters, and that Abathur himself disliked working with Terran DNA structures, seeing them as 'flawed and inelegant' and more a punishment from his queen than true assistance for his research work.

"A unique strain of Terrans, my queen. He requested I show it to you."

"Abathur." Her queen only called once. What answered was a flurry of images. The Zerg Architect of Essence opened his mind to his queen and let loose the memories inside.

The planet was unnamed, one among the countless beyond the puny Terran space, in the far reaches of the known universe. Even the Zerg had no name for it. It was designated X2135. Terran-like bipeds populated it along with other local flora and fauna.

"This planet is well beyond Terran space. Why are they here?"

A pause in the flurry of thoughts. Then the chamber quivered as an insectoid creature clawed its way out of the Leviathan's belly. Abathur took one look at the cocoon in Izsha's hold before uttering one single word.

"Unknown."

"Explain."

"Preliminary scanning of planet showed no signs of space-worthy Terran technology. Local Terran strains lived and evolved here for thousand years. Not Dominion." Another pause as he showed them an image from the eyes of an Overlord. A deserted city bearing traces of outdated and defunct technology. "Also, not Confederate. Date of ground structures predated Confederate interstellar technology."

"What are you suggesting then? That they are two separate species which happened to evolve along the same line?" As she said this, the Queen laid one hand on the cocoon, tasting the creature's genetic structure. It quivered once, then froze, petrified with terror.

"Impossible. Essences too similar. Not coincident. Originally same species. Adaptation created differences..." He paused, once. "... planet possible evolution test ground of superior species."

Another pause. Her queen eyed the Terran youngling thoughtfully, then asked. "The Xel Naga?"

"Unknown." Replied Abathur. "Also irrelevant." Then he moved forward, and with his spindly hands, took the cocoon from Izsha.

"What is relevant is essence." The wall of the cocoon receded somewhat, revealing the Terran child inside, visible through a thin layer of transparent membrane. "Intriguing species. Terran base, but forced to adapt to local environment. Planet rotational speed three times galactic standard. Planet emits its own psionic waves. So do local fauna. Terran population forced to adapt, evolved unique types of psionic power. Primal but effective." He clicked his spindly barb-like fingers. A clear sign of excitement. "Psionic powers in turn created changes in essence. Ability to temporarily assimilate other essences. Local Terran strain evolves... much like Zerg, but slower, less efficient. Inelegant... but effective."

Then he leaned down, his bulbous head inches away from the Terran child. "Intriguing specimen." He stated, spreading the child limbs open. "Caught it when it ventured beyond its hive. Great psionic potential. Much greater than species standard." He paused here, glancing with his many eyes at the Queen of the Swarm. "Possibly greater than even Terran organism Sarah Kerrigan."

He got no reply except for a curt, "So assimilate it. It will be a good addition to our Swarm."

To this, Abathur shook his head. "Impossible. X2135 Terran strain splits essences in micro levels. Each a unique strand. Different. Complex. Many mutually exclusive. All in small quantities. Population of active essence carriers too small. Impossible for Swarm to fully assimilate now. Effective assimilation takes time. Years. Decades. Dominion will notice our presence here." He turned and looked the Queen in the eye. "Dominion will come. Increased psionic activities during forced assimilation also attract Protoss. Two enemies. One Swarm."

_And there is the catch_. Thought Izsha. _If we try to assimilate them now, we risk luring the enemies to this place. And the Dominion Terran can 'assimilate' them far quicker than us._

"Potential too great to simply leave be. Dangerous. Will become effective weapon in Dominion hands. Can see many Zergs falling to them." Abathur continued, voicing the rest of Izsha's thoughts. He held up one needle finger. "Kill them" and deny the Dominion Terrans a great weapon. Then he held up the second finger. "Take them back to Char. However, effects of unprepared relocation of powerful psionic population unclear. May prove dangerous to Swarm, as Terran organism Atticus Carpenter proved. Too great psionic potential too near Swarm. Powerful enough psionic can take over part of Swarm. Danger to Queen." He withdrew his fingers then, and crossed his hands in a thinking man's pose. "Cannot make choice. Needed to show Queen. Need solution."

And then there was only quiet in the chamber. In the background, Izsha heard the vibration of the Leviathan's internal respiration. Everything Abathur just said was true, she knew. Nothing was exaggerated. Zergs did not exaggerate, and besides, the child in that cocoon shone. She can see it. Her queen can see it too. It was both exhilarating and terrifying to see such potential in something so small, so weak, so fragile. It burned in her arm-tentacles. She knew she can kill it if she so much as squeezed too tight, but in doing so, would release that black light inside it and perish in the process.

What shall her queen do? What would be her choice? The queen's mind was closed to her and to the Swarm. This was rare, and could only mean that her plans were not for their minds. Izsha was created as the sole reservoir of the queen's thoughts and memories. She could see the consideration that must be in her queen's mind right now.

Such potential. If brought into the Swarm, it would be among the greatest of the queen's agents. It would also be a terrible threat. Creatures possessing great psionic powers rarely submitted in full to the will of the Swarm. Doubtless it would still retain parts of its Terran mind in its next incarnation as a child of the Swarm. It would not be fully Zerg. And those who were not Zerg could only be the enemies.

If it were up to her, she would destroy it now. She would snuff its black light out in its infancy and terminate a threat to the Swarm before it could blossom into its full might.

But that was as far as Izsha could go. She was merely a reservoir of thoughts. The choice was not up to her. Whatever her queen's decision, she would submit.

"I will do neither." Her queen said finally, breaking the silence. Under their watchful gaze, she put a hand on the cocoon surface, directly above the Terran creature's head. Izsha felt a shift in the Swarm consciousness, like a great river changing its predetermined course, pushing forward with the weight of the billion joint minds within it. The Terran youngling twitched, whimpered. Izsha felt its mind thrashing, forced open and laid bare. Her queen dove in, but Izsha was disinterested. She watched idly as the memories poured into the Swarm hive mind, a tumultuous birth that the child never remembered but was marked by it nonetheless; a lonely childhood, forced isolation; terror and confusion, envy, longing; a burning desire to belong.

It was this last thing that her queen latched on to. This desire consumed the Terran creature. It slept with it, woke up to it. It founded the base of its mind. It wanted nothing more than to belong... but it never would.

Her queen smiled. She had found what she was looking for. "I have seen your heart, child..." In her other hand, a growth formed, a tiny larvae from which Izsha had seen swarm queens and broodmothers emerging from. "... and it is mine." She watched the larvae slither through the cocoon skin and burrowed itself into the Terran creature's chest, its screams muffled by the cocoon. For a moment, she expected to see the first stage of infestation begin... but no such thing happened. Instead, the larvae wormed its way to the boy's heart, and stayed there... dormant.

Izsha blinked. She did not understand. Eventually, the thing quieted down. It took her leaning down closer to see that it had fallen asleep. It was alive, and it looked like the wounds it had suffered at their hands were quickly healing. Its skin had regained normal coloration, its yellow fur slick and shiny. It was the picture of good health. There was no infestation, no absorbance of essences. The larvae had entered a stage of deep hibernation within the child. She turned up and looked her queen in the eye.

"Choice unclear." Abathur stole her words. "Quandary unresolved."

"Yet it is my will." Her queen said simply, turning away. "Take him back to where he came from. Make sure that his kind finds him."

Izsha's very essence commanded that she obeyed her queen's words. Wordlessly and despite her confusion, she saw to it that the cocoon be transported aboard a drop pod waiting for delivering back to the local Terran outpost. She watched it go, dropping from the Leviathan's underbelly to the planet green surface.

"Do we have active hives on this planet?"

"We do, my queen."

"Tell them to bury themselves underground." She said suddenly, and had Izsha still retained any parts of Amanda Hadley in her, she would have stopped from sheer surprise. But she didn't, and so the only thing she stopped for was to listen to the rest of her queen's command. "Tell them to enter hibernation... and to lay in wait."

"Wait for what, my queen?"

A smile, as cold and cutting as the blades she was known for. "They'll know, in time." And that was the answer, no more.

"Now take us off this cluster, Izsha. All of the Swarm. I do not want even a trace left. Nothing that will alert the Terrans and the Protoss that we were here in this system."

It was only until they cleared the first warp drive that Abathur pitched his question.

"I do not understand." He said simply, threading his barb-like fingers, for this one instance going so far as to emulate his queen's speech pattern to get the point across. "Mutated Terran potential unharvested. Future threat remains. Would like... explanation."

"Of course you don't understand." The Queen of Blades turned and looked at the Swarm Evolution Master. "Do you know what that boy wants most?"

"Unknown."

How could he know? Thought Izsha. Abathur was a brood of one, a nation unto oneself, pure Zerg. How could he understand Terran feelings of loneliness and isolation?

"He wants what every other Terrans want... to belong... but his want is so much greater than theirs... just like his power. It takes up his entire heart. So I gave him exactly that, a taste of what it feels like to be one with the Swarm, to be accepted regardless of what he is. That... and a gift."

The larvae?

"My gift will alter him and force him to his full potential. When the time comes, when he ripens, it will unfurl... and blossom within its host."

"Gradual infestation?" A process rarely observed and hardly understood by their enemies the Terran and Protoss. Unlike normal infestation whose goal was to simply provide the Swarm with cannon fodders and to foster discord and lower the morale in the ranks of the enemies, gradual infestation was the process of true assimilation, in which the Swarm brought into its fold individuals of rare power and potential by combining their essences with that of the Swarm. Unlike the so-called normal mass-produced-from-the-same-template infestation, gradual infestation was rare, and truly unique. To preserve the essence of the subject, each and every viral growth injected into them was tailored to meet their exact needs, to the crooks of their essences. For that reason, no two truly infested individuals were the same. Their queen was a fine example of such a successful infestation.

However...

"Disagree." Said Abathur after a moment of deliberation. "Observed structure of parasitic organism. Unusual design. Sequences complex. Too complex for infestation. Not true infestation. Other purpose. Hidden design. Time triggered mechanism. What purpose?"

That was true. Even Izsha could see it, if only vaguely. All Zergs had the ability to see and manipulate essences , no matter how weak that ability was. And from what she could see, that larvae wasn't simply an infestation growth.

A look passed her queen's face, Terran expressions, Terran emotions, a vestige of her past life. Abathur could not read them, and Izsha herself could only make out the outline of what they were supposed to be. Amusement. Consideration. A gleam of cunning—such a Zerg trait to display.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She smiled. What a curious gesture, the Terran smile. Amanda Hadley associated smiles with good things. This smile was not one of them.

"You saw that boy's potential." Said the Queen, directing her question at Abathur.

"Correct."

"What he can be in the future, pitted against the right conditions, far outstrips every thing that crawls by on two legs on that planet. If we could assimilate only him and lose the rest to either the Protoss or the Terrans, we would have still won in the grand scheme of things."

That gave the Zerg Evolution Master pause. He had not thought of it under that angle, preoccupied as he was with the sheer number of new, useful essence variations.

"You are still confused. I can see it in your mind. If that is the case, you think, then why didn't I simply take him back to Char?"

"Correct." Replied Abathur. "New parameters, resolution still illogical."

"The fact that you do not see it is what separates me and you." The Queen turned, facing them, her eyes glowing. "If I take him now, what will I gain but a weak larvae years away from reaching his true potential?"

"Char..."

"... will stunt his growth." She cut in before the Evolution Master could get another word in. "Char makes the Swarm strong but it makes us from the same mold. Unchanged, unoriginal. Our greatest essences never came from it. They came from other worlds. Let him stay there for now. Let him grow strong. His home planet will shape him as need be. Eventually he will come to his power and he will seek us out."

But how? Izsha had seen the structures of the parasitic growth. It allowed for far more autonomy in the infested subject than she had ever seen. It was on par with her queen's infestation. There was no question that that thing would still retain, if not all then the majority, of its Terran mind.

"Because we are his brood." The Queen answered her unvoiced question, smiling that cutting not-Amanda-Hadley-smile again. "Because I have touched his mind; and he, mine. Whether he accepts it or not, he is Zerg now. The Terrans will never truly accept him for what he is. He will always be alone in their midst. Once he's accepted this, he will depart from that planet and comes back to where he belongs... to us..."

"... To me."

* * *

'_Due to systematic neglect, it takes two weeks from Point Zero for us to realize the changes in Subject N... to catastrophic consequences. Fifty-five civilian casualties. Ten jounin-level shinobi. Two ANBU on guard duty. Over two hundred mentally maimed on first count. _

_Eyewitnesses reported the heads of the victims had "come apart once the boy started screaming"._

_Structural damages put the village account book in the red line for the year. The political aftermath was even worse. If we had not leaked the rumor that this incident was caused by a weapon in testing phases and that such weapon was on its way to perfection and fit for field duty en mass, the incident might have instigated attacks from other villages trying to prey on us in our weakened condition. It took us four years to regain the trust of the Fire Daimyo and to convince him that we were... in control... of the Subject. Reparations on all fronts nearly put us to debt._

_And all of this because the Subject was... upset._

_A Yamanaka task force was put on the case, but it quickly became apparent that their ability was of little use. The Subject's power, scope, and complexity goes far beyond what the Yamanaka are capable of... despite being in the same category... to put it loosely. _

_A new word was coined in an effort to classify subject N's emerging blood limit, along with its own measurement system. _

_The power of Psionic.'_

_- _Document N002 - Subject: N - Taskforce: Cultivate, sub-branch of Root - Director: Danzo Shimura -

* * *

When the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, got to the assembly hall, the argument was on its way to its peak. There were only five people in the room, three councilors and two civilian representatives, but they sounded like a crowd of fifty at mid-noon in a fish market.

Hiruzen stood on the other side of the door, listening to them go. His attendant came up from his right side.

"How's it going in there?" He asked.

"Bad." Said Inu, his white ANBU mask hiding everything about the man. "I got the secretary to hold them off for you. I'm not sure if she succeeded."

"It would still be better than if you did nothing." He consoled Inu, watching the masked head bobbing as if agreeing to his old man's blathering.

"How is he?" Inu's turn to ask.

A simple question but it gave Hiruzen pause. Before getting here, he'd gone over to the place where they were holding the boy. First thing he did when he heard the news. It had been a long time since he'd last felt that liquid ice sensation going down his spine and around his heart.

He put his hand in his coat pocket, pulled out an inhaler. At over sixty, with nearly thirty of them in near constant combat, his body had gone down the hill a long time ago. He had problems with his heart, and his lungs. The inhaler was for the latter. He brought it up to his mouth, sucked in one long, big breath.

"What do you want to hear?" He said once the inhaler put the lid to his whining lungs. "The lie that will see you to bed with good sleep tonight... or the truth that will have you drowning in regret for the rest of your life?"

Inside the room, he heard the civilian representative shouting shrilly about the "_abomination_". Outside, things were as quiet as a white night on the battlefield. He shrugged.

"Let me know your answer once you make up your mind." He said finally to a stone-quiet Inu—otherwise known as Hatake Kakashi to his non-ANBU colleagues—as he passed by him and into the assembly hall.

The door closed behind him right on time as the civilians representatives noticed his presence.

"Lord Hokage!" They both shouted at the same time. "... you need to put a stop to this!"

"Gentlemen... and ladies. My fellow villagers..." He regarded them like a man regarded tigers outside his house as he walked slowly to the center of the hurricane. "One at a time please."

"Hiruzen, good to see you finally here." One of the three councilors greeted him, Danzo Shimura, his old friend and rival. There was an edge to his gravelly voice. That edge had gotten there since thirty years ago and there it had stayed to this day. It was but one more reminders of how they had all changed and grown apart in their adulthood. "The representatives insist we must dispose of Naruto Uzumaki with haste. I am convincing them that it is an ill course of action."

"That demon killed hundreds!" The representative, a shallow-faced man named Koto, said. "We have executed criminals for lesser crimes than that."

"Agreed." The second representative, a forty something mother of two named Suboi, jumped in. "I say we do what we should have done five years ago and put the demon to death. My lord Hokage, even your children and grandchildren are vulnerable to the demon! How can you sit by and do nothing?"

"Please, the casualty count was at sixty-seven, hardly the hundreds you are talking about..." Koharu Utatane sneered. "... no offense. It was indeed a grave thing that happened, but I don't see how exaggerating the numbers helps with resolving the... Uzumaki problem... and overreacting is not how we deal with the aftermath."

"Then what do you suppose we do?Let him go free? And what after? Another 'incident'?" The word 'incident' was spat out with a mini-shower of free-flying spits. Suboi's face reddened all the way to her neck. Out of the two representatives, Suboi was the one who had it personal. When it happened, her grandchild was standing within the blast radius. As they spoke, the sweep team were still trying to scrape the girl's remains off the street. "The tradesmen union will not stand for this. The civilian villagers will not stand for this. That thing jeopardizes our lives, our livelihood! I will see its head roll if it's the last thing I will ever do."

"My good folks..." Hiruzen repeated, putting no small amount of force into his voice. His words resonated in the vaulted assembly hall, and promptly put an end to the verbal melee going on. Bless Kami that he still had this much authority. "This is not how we solve problems. It is not each other we must fight. I promise you that this will be resolved..." He regarded the tradesmen representatives as he said this, speaking slowly and deliberately. "... however, executing Naruto Uzumaki is **out of the question**."

Koto opened his mouth, about to protest, but before he could get a word out, Danzo cut in. "May I remind you, honorable representative, just how did you make your fortune again?" Koto shut his mouth, going gray in the face. "By supplying our armed forces with weapons. Surely you knew from the start what you were getting into. This is not a fisher village, nor is it a woodsmen village, or any other kinds of civilian villages. It is a Hidden Village. Its citizens are soldiers. And as you know..." A look passed between them, thorny with intention. "... all soldiers must be ready to give their life at a moment's notice. Your attempt to use their deaths for your argument is an insult to their honor."

Harshly put, but this was one thing Hiruzen did not disagree with his old friend. They exchanged a look. It seemed this was one among the rare instances where they had the same goal. Their methods and how they viewed a problem may be different, but on this one occasion, they both knew that for the greater good of the village... Naruto Uzumaki must be kept alive. The boy's never-before-seen blood limit must be brought under their control.

Not an easy thing to do—not with most of the villagers baying for the child's blood right now, not a mere five years from the Kyuubi incident, while memory was still fresh and wounds still unhealed, not while tension with Kumogakure from the kidnapping of the Hyuga heiress still brewed, not with the Uchiha vulturing for the perfect moment to usurp the current Hokage. By sheer chance, the timing of the incident just happened to fall right into the most politically volatile period of the village.

A perfect storm. A calamitous situation arising from the powerful combined effect of a unique set of circumstances. Hiruzen could see it clear as crystal in his head.

Their failing to persuade the tide of the public and political outrage. The child put to death. Konoha losing its sole jinchuuriki. The power balance of the villages tipping not in their favor. Tension with Kumogakure finally exploding into war. The first ever village, weary and worn after the Kyuubi and at strife with its own people, being torn to pieces by their enemies.

Them saving the child... at the price of diminished standing and political power. The Uchiha clan seizing the one in a million years opportunity and orchestrating a legitimate coup with the support of the dissident villagers. A village torn in civil war. Their enemies lying in wait for the victor to emerge then delivering the killing blow to a weakened village.

Hiruzen shuddered at the visions. Unacceptable... but very much possible.

If they so much as made one mistake—one slip the Uchiha leaders can take advantage of and break the power balance of the village—it would be the end for them all. The villagers, the shinobis, Uchiha included, Konohagakure itself.

Hiruzen regarded his long-time friend and rival, Danzo. Unlike the two representatives and the rest of Konoha, they both understood the gravity of the situation. And for that reason alone, within that split second of eye contact, they had both reached an agreement.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura would work together once again, for the goal of preserving Naruto Uzumaki and the village both. There was no other way. Alone, neither of them had the power to turn the tide against this child. The combined political will of the village and their enemies would see this child die before his life truly started. And if this child died, so too would their beloved village.

But if they worked together... as they used to in their youth...

For a moment he wanted to laugh. Irony that their rift would finally be bridged by such tragedy. But the Third Hokage was not one to dwell on such thoughts when the now demanded his attention.

Hiruzen turned away and back to the representatives.

"For the greater good..." He started. Without looking, he knew Danzo had his back... just as he used to many years ago.

In front of him, the representatives suddenly paled.

... For the greater good, he willed himself to believe, knowing he would commit atrocities in the name of it... and so would Danzo.

... For the greater good...

...For the greater good... he would stop this perfect storm...

* * *

'_In light of the the incident, the jinchuuriki Naruto Uzumaki was sentenced to death to public jubilation. However, two days before execution could be carried out, Naruto Uzumaki was reported dead in his cell, killed by his own volatile blood limit. He was subsequently cremated and his ashes scattered to Naka River._

_The Uzumaki file was then closed and sealed from public eye. This premature and unplanned death caused some commotions from villagers feeling that this death was "too easy for the demon". Eventually though, their frustration died down, their anger calmed, Konoha citizens began returning to their normal daily lives. Their memories of the Uzumaki demon eventually faded from their attention. _

_In contrast to what went on within Konohagakure however, a rumor surfaced in the international realm between villages and nations, stating that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki did not die from his blood limit, but rather from the forced and more importantly successful extraction of the Kyuubi._

_This rumor was the sole deterrent preventing the other four Great Hidden Villages from attacking Konohagakure. _

_Two days from the reported death of Naruto Uzumaki, __**Subject N**__ was given birth in a secret facility underground the Forest of Death. _

_Taskforce Cultivate officially started. _

- Document N003 - Subject: N - Task force Cultivate, sub-branch of Root - Director: Danzo Shimura -

* * *

**End Prologue**

* * *

I know what you're thinking. Why is this crossover in the Naruto section? Let me make it quick for you, because this is about the only time when Sarah Kerrigan and other characters of Starcraft 1 & 2 make screen time.

Ascend is the first in a duology. It will take place a hundred percent in the Naruto world and mostly only with Naruto characters. The only Starcraft influence in Ascend is Naruto's abilities and Sarah Kerrigan's influence on his developing personality (and the left over Hives but that would be a long while more into the story). Not that much different from your usual run-of-the-mill new power Naruto fic.

Only when the story comes to the second half of the duology will it become a full-on cross-over story.

To be honest, this story is something of a flight of fancy for me (I probably should be working on the next chapter of Tis Femina or something). I had this idea of a scenario where Naruto meets the Queen of Blades (not the primal one, the one before years before her deinfestation in WoL) in his childhood. Because of the trauma of the meeting, he forgets the whole thing, but subconsciously, this memory haunts him and shapes him throughout his life. From 5 years old, he starts developing abilities in a sympathetic manner to the child Sarah Kerrigan's psionic, and later on develops something of an obsession with 'going to the stars'.

Now put this Naruto, possessing these abilities given to him by the Queen of Blades, into the Naruto world, a militaristic and politically volatile word, what will we get?

I'm not a hundred percent sure of where I'll be taking this story, but I know that it will have 2 parts, the first being Naruto's struggle, growth, and eventual acceptance of what he is and his personality as a separate entity from the Queen of Blades whose deinfestation at the end of Wings of Liberty he feels at 14-15 years old. This first part ends with Naruto acquiring the dormant hives left to him on his planet, developing the necessary evolution to grow his own Leviathan and leaving the planet to go to his 'maker'… so to speak.

The second part takes place in the much larger galactic stage where Naruto tries to learn as much as he could about this world, his maker (whose name he now knows for the first time) and blend in at the same time. This second part also encompasses Heart of the Swarm, where Naruto meets the deinfested Kerrigan for the first time and decides to follow her.


End file.
